UHSP Women's Golf readies for first ever match

The University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy will unveil a new sport on Monday and play their first ever Women's Golf match in Fulton, Missouri. The Eutectics will compete as part of the field for the William Woods University Fall Invitational at Tanglewood Golf Course. The UHSP team consists of freshmen Caitie Garlick and Kennedi Cope, sophomore Bailey Busque and graduate student Samantha Kasting. The Eutectics are led by Head Coach Sean Curtis who was previously the first varsity women's golf coach at Washington University in St. Louis, where he spent seven seasons (2008-15). Curtis led the Bears to WashU's first-ever NCAA Division III Championship Tournament in 2009-10. Curtis has 23 years in various roles within the intercollegiate athletics and recreation departments, spending time at McKendree University, John A. Logan College, Carterville High School and Carbondale Community High School. The Eutectics introduced Curtis as their first ever Women's Golf head coach on Jan. 26, 2022 while McKenzie Miller was recently brought on as the Assistant Women's Golf Coach. Seeing the program finally prepare for their first-ever match has been a long time coming for Curtis, "It's nice that we have a group of women that are dedicated to building this program, first and foremost. We're behind the scenes, Coach Miller and I, kind of pushing things and recruiting and trying to get everything going in the right direction which is hard with a new program, but I'm just happy that they are committed to it and look forward to down the road seeing where this goes."

While he has been hard at it with UHSP for over a year, Curtis says the more immediate preparation for match one hasn't nearly been that long, "It's seemed like we started a couple of months ago, but it's really only been a couple of weeks. We've put in a lot of good work and looking forward to this inaugural golf match for UHSP Women's Golf and I think that the team members are all excited. There's going to be a little bit of nerves on the first tee, but once the ball gets in the air then it's just business as usual. Pretty excited all the way around."

The Eutectics will compete in three tournaments this fall before they head for a heavier slate come the spring season. UHSP will open at William Woods University Invitational after the weekend starting at 9am on both Monday and Tuesday, then play at the Columbia College Cougar Classic on Oct. 2-3 and then finally on Oct. 16-17 at the McKendree University Dual Gender Tournament.